Throughout the 1920s, efforts to commercially develop the oil sands focused upon its possible use as a paving surface for roads and sidewalks.

The Scientific and Industrial Research Council of Alberta is founded.

Henry Marshall Tory, the first president of the University of Alberta, was instrumental in founding the Scientific and Industrial Research Council of Alberta, n.d. Source: University of Alberta Archives, 69-152-003

Karl Clark builds his first model hot-water separation plant.

Karl Clark and Sidney Blair built a model oil sands separation plant in the basement of the University of Alberta power plant. Source: University of Alberta Archives, 69-97-457

Sidney Kidder, Sidney Blair, George Hume, and Elmer Adkins (l to r) at the Edmonton portion of the Athabasca Oil Sands Conference at the University of Alberta, 1951Source: Provincial Archives of Alberta, PA3152

Great Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. incorporates.

Montreal-businessman Lloyd Champion incorporates Great Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. (GCOS) in 1953. Champion, shown here ca. 1960s, later sells most of his shares in the company before the GCOS plant opens under Sun Oil Company’s financing and leadership.Source: University of Alberta Archives, #83-160

Early in situ pilot tests begin on the Peace River and Cold Lake area oil sands deposits; underground experiments along the Cold Lake deposit lead to the development of the Cyclical Steam Stimulation (CCS) bitumen recovery method.

A cross-section of the Cold Lake area deposit shows the depth of the oil sands layer that makes the bitumen in this deposit recoverable only through in situ extraction methods. Source: Courtesy of Alberta Innovates

Great Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. begins production.

Great Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. plant during its first week of operation, north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, 1967 Source: Courtesy of Suncor

Partnership between industry and the Alberta Oil Sands Technology and Research Authority (AOSTRA) leads to commercialization of in situ recovery methods.

AOSTRA-sponsored technology develops through the late 1970s and early 1980s; the Cyclic Steam Stimulation bitumen recovery process injects steam through one well below the base of the oil sands, resulting in a heat zone that mobilizes the bitumen so that it can be pumped to the surface through a second production well. Source: Courtesy of Alberta Innovates

Industry Landmark: The Great Canadian Oil Sands Plant

The Great Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. (GCOS) plant is considered a landmark in oil sands development. It was the world’s first large-scale commercial oil sands surface mining and refining plant and pioneered technology for bitumen extraction and upgrading.

When the GCOS plant began operations in 1967, bucket wheel excavators were used to mine the oil sands. These vehicles, ten storeys tall, crept forward on two pairs of caterpillar tracks, dug out oil sands and deposited it onto a conveyor belt for transport to a processing plant. The equipment had constant problems, especially when the temperature reached -40°C (-40°F): “Buckets broke teeth on the frozen ground, large chunks of frozen bitumen jammed the crushers and the conveyor belts split in the extreme cold,” one observer reported.

The process the plant used involved combining the sands with hot water and corrosive soda in horizontal rotating conditioning drums to create a thick slurry. Next came separation tanks, where lighter oil-bearing materials floated above heavier waste materials. Then centrifuges were used to remove sand and clay, and the resulting bitumen

was moved to a fractionating tower, where it was separated into light gases (used for fuel), naphtha, kerosene and gas oil. Other impurities were then removed, and the naphtha, kerosene and gas oil blended for transmission by pipeline to market. This high-quality oil was the first of the synthetic oils pioneered in the Fort McMurray area.

Great Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. achieved a certain level of glory as it was a pioneer in the mining and refining of the Athabasca oil sands, but the path to this acclaim involved a number of obstacles. In its first year of production, the project averaged only one third of design capacity—15,000 barrels per day. Another five years of working out kinks passed before the plant was able to operate to capacity. Only in 1975 did the plant begin to turn a modest profit. That the plant survived and eventually even thrived may be attributed to the tenacity of J. Howard Pew, whose personal conviction was backed up by his company’s support.